8.5A
Ruth: Now,
I must say, I hate people being late. I always try to arrive exactly on time,
myself. I think it's very rude to be late. Don't you, Florence?
Florence: MmmmÉ My friends are
quite often late. Personally, I think you should arrive within an hour of the
time that you were invited. But some of my friends are much later than that.
But I think the most important thing is to stay in touch and let the person
know if you're going to be late. Just send a text orÉ whatever. Then it's not
such a problem, hopefully.
Ruth: Well,
I must say, it's a problem for me.
Florence: MmmmÉ Hm. I'll bear that
in mind when I'm meeting you next time, Gran. I'll make sure I'm not late. I
don't want to get into trouble.
8.5B
Florence: MmmÉ When we meet, we
generally hug each other. I meanÉ it depends. If it's one of my close female
friends then we kiss each other but if it's someone you don't know so well, but
someone who's stillÉ you know, a friendÉ you hug each other.
Ruth: Boys
too?
Florence: Sure. Why not?
Ruth: When
I was young, people would just say
'hello' or shake hands if they hadn't
seen each other for a long time. But now there's a lot more kissing, it
seems to me. Most people kiss each other on the cheek. Once, usually, though
some people kiss on both cheeks andÉ It's all a bit confusing, really. Of
course of my age never kiss each other. If anything, they shake hands. They
would definitely never hug or kiss
each other. Oh, I can't imagine your Grandpa kissing his friends!
8.5C
Florence: AhhÉ I think on the
first date, the guy pays, generally speaking. But I think the woman should
definitely offer to pay. After that, it kind of depends who's got the most
money, don't you think? I mean if you're both poor students, you probably share
the bill. But if one person's got a job and the other one hasn't, then I think
the person with money should pay, or at least they should pay more often.
Ruth: MmmmÉ In my day, the man always paid. People expected it.
The man would be embarrassed if he didn't pay in a restaurant. But then of
course, it's a very long time since I've been on a date, so what do I know?
8.5D
Ruth: Now,
this is something I must say I feel very strongly about. To me, it's the height
of rudeness to have a conversation on your mobile phone while you're out with
other people. It's just bad manners! You should give all your attention to the
people you are with. I think you should definitely switch your mobile phone off.
But of course, I'm probably old-fashioned.
Florence: Personally, if I'm with other people in a
restaurant or something, I always switch my phone to vibrate.
Otherwise you have phones ringing all night and it's really annoying. But,
yeah, I answer my calls and answer my text messages, well, you know,
discretely.
Ruth: Do
you? Oh.
Florence: I mean, I do agree with you in a way. I've got one
or two friends who just text all evening long and we all tease them about how
boring they are. But I don't think anyone's seriously offended, really. It's
just the way it is these days, Gran.
Ruth: Mmmm.
8.5E
Ruth: Well,
of course, I was always taught that you should a hand-written note and you
should send it the very next day. But I suppose that's all very old-fashioned
now.
Florence: Hm Hm
Hmmm Not many people of my age send hand-written notes,
I must say. But I would always post something on someone's Facebook wall. You
know, 'Thanks a lot for last night'. We do still have manners, you know.
Ruth: Of
course. It's
just all so different these days.